Method and server for authenticating and verifying file

ABSTRACT

Provided is a method according to one embodiment of the present invention comprising the steps of: (a) a server generating, by means of a hash function, a message digest (MD) of a particular file when a request for authenticating same is obtained; (b) when an MD encoded with a private key of a particular user is obtained, and if (A) information for the MD, which was encoded with the private key of the particular user, decoded with a public key of the particular user matches (B) the MD generated in step (a), then the server registering, in a database, a hash value of the MD encoded with the private key of the particular user and a private key of the server; and (c) the server obtaining a transaction ID.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method for authenticating andverifying a file; and more particularly, to the method forauthenticating and verifying the file by an “authentication process” of,if an authentication request for the file is acquired, (i) generating orsupporting another device to generate a specific message digest of thefile using a hash function, (ii) if a first message digest calculated byencoding the specific message digest with a private key of a user isacquired, and if reference information acquired by decoding the firstmessage digest with a public key of the user corresponds to the specificmessage digest, registering or supporting another device to register ahash value of a second message digest, generated by encoding thespecific message digest with the private key of the user and a privatekey of a server, in a database, and (iii) acquiring or supportinganother device to acquire a transaction ID indicating a location of thehash value registered in the database, and by a “verification process”of, if a verification request for a second file is acquired, (i)acquiring or supporting another device to acquire the transaction IDcorresponding to at least one of the public key of the user and anoriginal message digest of the second file generated by using the hashfunction, (ii) acquiring or supporting another device to acquire an OPmessage, including the hash value of the second message digest generatedby encoding the specific message digest with the private key of the userand the private key of the server, from the database by referring to thetransaction ID, and (iii) determining or supporting another device todetermine the second file as verified, if the hash value of the secondmessage digest in the OP message corresponds to a hash value of a thirdmessage digest generated by encoding the original message digest withthe private key of the server and the private key of the user, and theserver using the same.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

An authentication is an act of publicly certifying the existence or thecontents of a specific fact or specific legal relations. Whencommissioned to authenticate the specific legal relations, anauthentication officer generally writes, signs and seals, and stores adocument in an authentication office.

However, there are constraints of time and space, and a possibility ofmissing, forging, and falsifying an authenticated document because, in aconventional authentication, a client physically visits theauthentication office with a document to be authenticated and itscertificate is stored in the authentication office.

Herein, the inventor of the present invention developed anauthentication system for a file to perform the authentication inreal-time without the possibility of forgery and falsification andwithout constraints of space by recording authentication information ina blockchain of virtual currency.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to solve all the aforementionedproblems.

It is another object of the present invention to provide anauthentication system for a file to perform an authentication and averification in real-time without a possibility of forgery andfalsification and without constraints of space by recordingauthentication information in a blockchain of virtual currency.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide theauthentication system for the file with guaranteed security to performthe authentication and the verification in real-time without thepossibility of forgery or falsification and without the constraints ofspace by using a hash function and an encryption technology.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a method for authenticating a file, including steps of: (a) aserver, if an authentication request for the file is acquired,generating or supporting another device to generate a specific messagedigest of the file using a hash function; (b) the server, if a firstmessage digest generated by encoding the specific message digest with aprivate key of a user is acquired, and if reference information acquiredby decoding the first message digest with a public key of the usercorresponds to the specific message digest generated at the step of (a),registering or supporting another device to register a hash value of asecond message digest, generated by encoding the specific message digestwith the private key of the user and a private key of the server, in adatabase; and (c) the server acquiring or supporting another device toacquire a transaction ID indicating a location of the hash valueregistered in the database.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a method for verifying a file, including steps of: (a) aserver, on condition that the server has determined a user as related toa first file, as a reference file, in response to an authenticationrequest for the first file and, as a result, that the server has storeda first hash value of a first message digest, generated by encoding amessage digest of the first file with a private key of the user and aprivate key of the server, in a database, and that the server has beenmanaging its corresponding transaction ID, if a verification request fora second file is acquired, acquiring or supporting another device toacquire the transaction ID corresponding to at least one of a public keyof the user and an original message digest of the second file generatedby using a hash function; (b) the server acquiring or supporting anotherdevice to acquire an OP message, including the first hash value of thefirst message digest, from the database by referring to the transactionID; and (c) the server determining or supporting another device todetermine the second file as verified, if the first hash value in the OPmessage corresponds to a second hash value of a second message digestgenerated by encoding the original message digest with the private keyof the server and the private key of the user.

In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, thereis provided a server for authenticating a file, including: acommunication part for acquiring or supporting another device to acquirean authentication request for the file; and a processor for, (I) if theauthentication request for the file is acquired, generating orsupporting another device to generate a specific message digest of thefile using a hash function, and if a first message digest generated byencoding the specific message digest with a private key of a user isacquired, and if reference information acquired by decoding the firstmessage digest with a public key of the user corresponds to thegenerated specific message digest, registering or supporting anotherdevice to register a hash value of a second message digest, generated byencoding the specific message digest with the private key of the userand a private key of the server, in a database; and (II) acquiring orsupporting another device to acquire a transaction ID indicating alocation of the hash value registered in the database.

In accordance with still yet another aspect of the present invention,there is provided a server for verifying a file, including: acommunication part for acquiring a verification request for a secondfile; and a processor for, (I) on condition that the server hasdetermined a user as related to a first file, as a reference file, inresponse to an authentication request for the first file and, as aresult, that the server has stored a first hash value of a first messagedigest, generated by encoding a message digest of the first file with aprivate key of the user and a private key of the server, in a database,and that the server has been managing its corresponding transaction ID,if the verification request for the second file is acquired, acquiringor supporting another device to acquire the transaction ID correspondingto at least one of a public key of the user and an original messagedigest of the second file generated by using a hash function; (II)acquiring or supporting another device to acquire an OP message,including the first hash value of the first message digest, from thedatabase by referring to the transaction ID; and (III) determining orsupporting another device to determine the second file as verified, ifthe first hash value in the OP message corresponds to a second hashvalue of a second message digest generated by encoding the originalmessage digest with the private key of the server and the private key ofthe user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings attached below to explain example embodiments of thepresent invention are only part of example embodiments of the presentinvention and other drawings may be obtained based on the drawingswithout inventive work for those skilled in the art:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a server thatperforms an authentication of a file in accordance with one exampleembodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 2 to 6 are sequence diagrams illustrating processes of performingthe authentication of the file in accordance with various exampleembodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings that show, by way of illustration, specificembodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodimentsare described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art topractice the invention. It is to be understood that the variousembodiments of the present invention, although different, are notnecessarily mutually exclusive. For example, a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described herein in connection with oneembodiment may be implemented within other embodiments without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the present invention. In addition, it isto be understood that the position or arrangement of individual elementswithin each disclosed embodiment may be modified without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the present invention. The following detaileddescription is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and thescope of the present invention is defined only by the appended claims,appropriately interpreted, along with the full range of equivalents towhich the claims are entitled. In the drawings, like numerals refer tothe same or similar functionality throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a server thatperforms an authentication of a file in accordance with one exampleembodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 2 to 6 are sequence diagramsillustrating processes for performing the authentication and averification of the file in accordance with various example embodimentsof the present invention.

Before explaining the example embodiments, expressions used in thepresent specification are defined as follows. On the left of ‘:’ is theexpression and on the right is a definition of the expression.

<Definitions of Expressions>

PrivX: Private key of X

PubX: Public key of X

AESX: AES secret key of X

Enc_(PrivX)(Y): Output of encryption of Y using PrivX

Dec_(PubX)(Y): Output of decryption of Y using PubX

Enc_(AESX)(Y): Output of AES encryption of Y using AESX

Dec_(AESX)(Y): Output of AES decryption of Y using AESX

Hash(Y): Hash value of Y

First of all, a process for authenticating the file in response to arequest from a single user is explained by referring to FIGS. 1 and 2.

By referring to FIG. 1, a server 100 that performs the authentication ofthe file in accordance with one example embodiment of the presentinvention may include a communication part 110 and a processor 120.

The communication part 110 may be configured to transmit and receivedata to and from the user or a user device and a database 200. First,the communication part 110 may acquire an authentication request for thefile at a step of S210. As illustrated in FIG. 2, if the authenticationrequest for the file is acquired, the file and a public key PubU of theuser who requested the authentication, may be acquired. Thecommunication part 110 may respond to the request at a step of S220where the request and its corresponding response may be performed duringone TCP session.

If the authentication request for the file is acquired, the processor120 may generate or support another device to generate a message digestof the file by using a hash function, i.e., MD=Hash(File), at a step ofS215. Herein, the hash function may vary in its type. For example, thehash function may be triple sha256. Also, the hash function in thepresent specification generally means a function to transform theoriginal file, but may include a function that just stores the filewithout any modification in an extreme case. In this case, the messagedigest generated by using the hash function may be the same as the file.

At the step of S220, the message digest MD generated in response to theauthentication request may be transmitted to the user who requested theauthentication of the file. If the user has requested the authenticationof the file through the user device, not shown in the diagram, thegenerated MD may be transmitted to the user device.

Next, the communication part 110 may acquire EncPrivU(MD), generated byencoding the MD with a private key PrivU of the user, from the user at astep of S225. In this case, the MD and the PubU may also be receivedfrom the user because the TCP session may be disconnected after theresponse of the step S220. For reference, although the presentspecification is described by using expressions EncPriv(MD) andEncPub(MD) of encoding the MD with the private key and the public key,they may be replaced with SigPriv(File) and SigPub(File). Additionally,in case that the message digest is generated more than once, expressionsSigPriv(MD) and SigPub(MD) may be used.

Further, if the EncPrivU(MD) generated by encoding the MD with the PrivUis acquired, and if the generated message digest B corresponds toinformation A which is DecPubU(EncPrivU(MD)) acquired by decoding theEncPrivU(MD) with the PubU at a step of S230-2, the processor 120 maygenerate or support another device to generate a hash value of a firstencoded message digest generated by encoding the MD with the PrivU and aprivate key PrivC of the server 100 at a step of S240, and may registeror support another device to register the generated hash value in thedatabase 200 at a step of S250. The reason for registering the messagedigest in the form of a hash value in the database 200 is that the sizeof the data needs to be reduced due to the limits on a storage capacityof the database 200. Herein, the database 200 may be a blockchain ofvirtual currency. For example, it may be a bitcoin blockchain.

For reference, in FIG. 2, the expression ‘DecPubU(EncPrivU(MD))==MD’ isused to represent that the A corresponds to the B, but the expression ofthe present invention is not limited thereto. For example, ‘True==VerPubU(SigPriv(File))’ may also represent the same relationship.Additionally, in case that the message digest is generated more thanonce, the expression ‘True ==VerPubU(SigPriv(MD))’ may be used.

Moreover, if the A corresponds to the B, the processor 120 may registeror support another device to register Hash[EncPrivC(EncPrivU(MD))],which is the hash value of the first encoded message digest generated byencoding the MD in sequence with the PrivU and the PrivC, in thedatabase 200. In other words, the hash value of the first encodedmessage digest may be registered in the database 200, after the user,who is a client, signs the MD first with the PrivU and then the server100, which is an authentication officer, signs it with the PrivC.However, the order of signing may be different from this. Especially, ifa session between the user and the server 100 is being maintained, theserver 100 may sign the MD first and then the user may.

In case that the hash value of the first encoded message digestgenerated by encoding the MD with the PrivU and the PrivC is registeredin the database 200, the communication part 110 may acquire atransaction ID, i.e., TxID, from the database 200 at a step of S255,wherein the transaction ID indicates a location of the hash value of thefirst encoded message digest registered in the database 200.

On the other hand, if the A does not correspond to the B at a step ofS230-1, the processor 120 may send a message of an unsuccessfulregistration to the user by reason that the user is not a person relatedto the file, e.g. a transactor, at a step of S235.

Additionally, if the A corresponds to the B, the processor 120 may storeor support another device to store the file at a step of S245. Herein,the file may be encrypted with a symmetric key encryption algorithm suchas AES, i.e., Advanced Encryption Standard. In this case, the secret keymay be a certain secret key processed from the public key of the user,but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto.

The processor 120 may store or support another device to store the PubU,the MD, the EncPrivU(MD), and the TxID. Moreover, the processor 120 mayfurther store or support another device to store EncPrivC(EncPrivU(MD)),which is the first encoded message digest generated by encoding the MDin sequence with the PrivU and the PrivC, and its hash valueHash[EncPrivC(EncPrivU(MD))].

If authentication information is registered in the database 200 asstated above, the communication part 110 may send a message of asuccessful registration to the user at a step of S260.

Next, a process for verifying a file in response to a request from asingle user is explained by referring to FIG. 3.

The file may be verified by a separate device which may refer toinformation on the aforesaid server 100, or by the aforesaid server 100.Hereinafter, the explanation is based on the verification of the file bythe aforesaid server 100 for convenience.

By referring to FIG. 3, similarly to the aforesaid example, thecommunication part 110 may acquire a verification request for the fileat a step of S310. As illustrated in FIG. 3, if the verification requestfor the file is acquired, the file and the PubU, which is the public keyof a user who requested the verification, may be acquired. Thecommunication part 110 may respond to the request, and the request andits corresponding response may be performed within one TCP session.

As stated above, on condition that the server 100 has determined theuser, who requested the authentication of the file, as related to thefile in response to an authentication request for the file and, as aresult, that the server 100 has stored the hash value of the firstencoded message digest, generated by encoding the MD of the file withthe PrivU and the PrivC, in the database 200, and has been managing itscorresponding transaction ID, if the verification request for the fileis acquired, the processor 120 may acquire or support another device toacquire the transaction ID corresponding to at least one of the PubU andthe MD of the file. In this case, the transaction ID, i.e., TxID, mayhave been stored in the server 100 or in a device which the server 100may refer to.

In case that the communication part 110 receives the verificationrequest for the file at the step of S310, if the file is acquired forthe verification, the processor 120 may generate or support anotherdevice to generate an original message digest of the file using the hashfunction, i.e., MD=Hash(File), at a step of S315. In this case, theprocessor 120 may refer to the transaction ID corresponding to at leastone of the PubU and the generated original message digest of the file.

If no information corresponding to the original message digest is found,despite the verification request at a step of S320-1, the communicationpart 110 may send a message of an unsuccessful verification to the userat a step of S325.

Also, if the information, which is the transaction ID corresponding tothe message digest, is found at a step of S320-2, the communication part110 may send a query to the database 200 using the TxID at a step ofS325 and acquire an OP message including the hash value of the firstencoded message digest generated by encoding the MD with the PrivU andthe PrivC from the database 200 at a step of S330.

Further, if a hash value of a second encoded message digest, generatedby encoding the original message digest with the PrivC and the PrivU,corresponds to the hash value of the first encoded message digest,generated by encoding the MD with the PrivU and the PrivC, in the OPmessage, then the processor 120 may determine or support another deviceto determine the file as verified at a step of S335.

Herein, the second encoded message digest generated by encoding theoriginal message digest with the PrivC and the PrivU may beEncPrivC(EncPrivU(MD)) which is generated by encoding the originalmessage digest in sequence with the PrivU and the PrivC.

However, even in case that the hash value of X, which is the secondencoded message digest generated by encoding the original message digestwith the PrivC and the PrivU, corresponds to the hash value of the firstencoded message digest, generated by encoding the MD with the PrivU andthe PrivC, in the OP message, if a result valueDecPubU(DecPubC(EncPrivC(EncPrivU(MD)))) acquired by decoding the X witha public key PubC of the server 100 and the PubU corresponds to the MDof the file, the processor 120 may further determine or support anotherdevice to determine the file as verified at a step of S340. In otherwords, the verification of the file may be completed with two moresteps. This is because a possibility of changes in the private key, thepublic key, etc. of the user is considered.

The three steps of the verification above may be represented as theexpressions below.

<Expressions 1>

OP_MESSAGE Hash==[Enc_(PrivC)(Enc_(PrivU)(MD))]

Enc_(PrivU)(MD)==Dec_(PubC)[Enc_(PrivC)(Enc_(PrivU)(MD))]

MD(=Hash[File])==Dec_(PubU)[Enc_(PrivU)(MD)]

If the verification of the file is successful, the communication part110 may send a message of a successful verification to the user at astep of S345.

Also, if the file is determined as verified, the processor 120 may allowa download of the file. In this case, the user may download the filethrough the user device, etc.

Next, a process for authenticating a file in response to requests frommultiple users is explained by referring to the FIGS. 4 and 5. However,the repeated explanation is omitted.

FIG. 4 represents a process of parallel signing which performs theauthentications in parallel, and FIG. 5 represents a process of serialsigning which performs the authentications in sequence, in response toauthentication requests from the multiple users.

First of all, by referring to FIG. 4, if the authentication request isacquired at each step of S410 and S420, the processor 120 may generateor support another device to generate the message digest of the file,i.e., MD=Hash(File), using the hash function at each step of S412 andS422. Moreover, if a first message digest generated by encoding themessage digest with a private key PrivU1 of a first user and a secondmessage digest generated by encoding the message digest with a privatekey PrivU2 of a second user are acquired at steps of S440 and S450, andif each piece of (i) information A′ which is DecPubU1(EncPrivU1(MD))acquired by decoding the first message digest with a public key PubU1 ofthe first user and (ii) information B′ which is DecPubU2(EncPrivU2(MD))acquired by decoding the second message digest with a public key PubU2of the second user corresponds to the generated message digest C′, whichis the MD, at a step of S440-3, then the processor 120 may register orsupport another device to register a hash value of a third messagedigest, generated by encoding the MD with the PrivU1, the PrivU2, andthe PrivC, in the database 200 at a step of S475.

Next, the communication part 110 may acquire a transaction ID indicatinga location of the registered hash value of the third message digest inthe database 200 at a step of S480.

Moreover, if each of the A′ and the B′ corresponds to the C′, theprocessor 120 may register or support another device to registerEncPrivC(EncPrivU1(MD)+EncPrivU2(MD)), which is acquired by encoding asum value with the PrivC, in the database 200, wherein the sum value isa sum of the first message digest generated by encoding the MD with thePrivU1 and the second message digest generated by encoding the MD withthe PrivU2.

Next, by referring to FIG. 5, if the authentication request for the fileis acquired at each step of S510 and S535, the processor 120 maygenerate or support another device to generate the message digest of thefile using the hash function, i.e., MD=Hash(File), at each step of S512and S537. In this case, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the PubU1, the PubU2,and the file may be acquired together.

If (i) the first message digest EncPrivU1(MD), generated by encoding themessage digest with the PrivU1, is acquired at a step of S520, andinformation A″ which is the DecPubU1(EncPrivU1(MD)) acquired by decodingthe first message digest with the PubU1 corresponds to the generatedmessage digest B″, which is the MD, and if (ii)EncPrivU2(EncPrivU1(MD)), generated by encoding the message digest withthe PrivU1 and the PrivU2, is acquired at a step of S545, andinformation C″ which is DecPubU2(EncPrivU2(EncPrivU1(MD))) acquired bydecoding the EncPrivU2(EncPrivU1(MD)) with the PubU2 corresponds toinformation D″ which is the first message digest EncPrivU1(MD) at a stepof S560, then the processor 120 may register or support another deviceto register the hash value of the third message digest, generated byencoding the message digest with the PrivU1, the PrivU2, and the PrivC,in the database 200 at a step of S575.

Moreover, if the A″ corresponds to the B″, and if the C″ corresponds tothe D″, the processor 120 may register or support another device toregister SO=EncPrivC(EncPrivU2(EncPrivU1(MD))), which is generated byencoding the message digest in sequence with the PrivU1, the PrivU2, andthe PrivC, in the database 200.

Herein, the communication part 110 may acquire the transaction ID, i.e.,TxID, indicating a location of the registered hash value of the thirdmessage digest in the database 200 at a step of S580.

Next, a process for verifying the file in response to requests frommultiple users is explained by referring to FIG. 6. However, therepeated explanation is omitted. For reference, steps from S625 to S650represent a serial signing process for verifying the file in sequence,and steps from S660 to S685 represent a parallel signing process forverifying the file in parallel, in response to verification requestsfrom at least part of the multiple users. These processes may beperformed at different times, or at the same time.

By referring to FIG. 6, as stated above, on condition that the server100 has determined the first user and the second user as related to thefile in response to the authentication requests for the file, and thatthe server 100, as a result, has stored the hash value of the thirdmessage digest, generated by encoding the MD of the file with thePrivU1, the PrivU2, and the PrivC, in the database 200, and that theserver 100 has been managing its corresponding transaction ID, i.e.,TxID, if at least one of the verification requests for the file isacquired at a step of S610, the processor 120 may acquire the TxIDcorresponding to at least one of a specific message digest of the file,i.e., MD=Hash(File), and the public keys of the users who request theverification of the file.

Also, the communication part 110 may acquire an OP message, whichincludes the hash value of the third message digest generated byencoding the message digest with the PrivU1, the PrivU2, and the PrivC,from the database 200 using the TxID at each step of S635 and S670.

Further, if a hash value of a fourth message digest generated byencoding the specific message digest with the PrivC, the PrivU1, and thePrivU2 correspond to the hash value of the third message digest,generated by encoding the MD with the PrivU1, the PrivU2, and the PrivC,in the OP message, then the processor 120 may determine or supportanother device to determine the file as verified at each step of S640and S675.

In case of the parallel signing process, the processor 120 may determineor support another device to determine the file as verified according towhether Hash[EncPrivC(EncPrivU1(MD)+EncPrivU2(MD))], which is a hashvalue of a first encoded value acquired by encoding a sum value with thePrivC, corresponds to the hash value of the third message digest,generated by encoding the MD with the PrivU1, the PrivU2, and the PrivC,in the OP message, wherein the sum value is a sum of a fifth messagedigest generated by encoding the specific message digest with the PrivU1and a sixth message digest generated by encoding the specific messagedigest with the PrivU2.

However, even in case that the hash valueHash[EncPrivC(EncPrivU1(MD)+EncPrivU2(MD))] of Y, which is the firstencoded value acquired by encoding the sum value with the PrivC,corresponds to the hash value of the third message digest, generated byencoding the message digest with the PrivU1, the PrivU2, and the PrivC,in the OP message, if (i) a first decoded value obtained by decoding thefifth message digest, which is obtained by decoding the Y with the PubC,with the PubU1 corresponds to the MD, and if (ii) a second decoded valueobtained by decoding the sixth message digest, which is obtained bydecoding the Y with the PubC, with the PubU2 corresponds to the MD, theprocessor 120 may determine or support another device to determine thefile as verified. In other words, the verification of the file may becompleted with three more steps.

The four steps of the verification above may be represented as theexpressions below.

<Expressions 2>

OP_MESSAGE ==Hash[Enc_(PrivC)(Enc_(PrivU1)(MD)+Enc_(privU2)((M_(D)))]

Enc_(PrivU1)(MD)+Enc_(PrivU2)(MD)==Dec_(PubC)[Enc_(PrivC)(Enc_(PrivU1)(MD)+Enc_(PrivU2)(MD))]

MD(=Hash[File])==Dec_(PubU1)[Enc_(PrivU1)(MD)]

MD(=Hash[File])==Dec_(PubU1)[Enc_(PrivU1)(MD)]

On the other hand, in case of the serial signing process, the processor120 may determine or support another device to determine the file asverified according to whether Hash[EncPrivC(EncPrivU2(EncPrivU1(MD)))],which is the hash value of a second encoded value acquired by encodingthe specific message digest in sequence with the PrivU1, the PrivU2, andthe PrivC, corresponds to the hash value of the third message digest,generated by encoding the message digest with the PrivU1, the PrivU2 andthe PrivC, in the OP message.

However, even in case that the hash valueHash[EncPrivC(EncPrivU2(EncPrivU1(MD)))] of Z, which is the secondencoded value acquired by encoding the specific message digest insequence with the PrivU1, the PrivU2, and the PrivC, corresponds to thehash value of the third message digest, generated by encoding themessage digest with the PrivU1, the PrivU2, and the PrivC, in the OPmessage, ifDecPubU1(DecPubU2(DecPubC(EncPrivC(EncPrivU2(EncPrivU1(MD)))))) obtainedby decoding the Z in sequence with the PubC, the PubU2, and the PubU1corresponds to the MD, the processor 120 may determine or supportanother device to determine the file as verified. In other words, theverification of the file may be completed with three more steps.

The four steps of the verification above may be represented as theexpressions below.

<Expressions 3>

OP_MESSAGE==Hash[Enc_(PrivC)(Enc_(PrivU2)(Enc_(PrivU1)(MD)))]

Enc_(PrivU2)(Enc_(PrivU1)(MD))==Dec_(PubC)[Enc_(PrivC)(Enc_(PrivU2)(Enc_(PrivU1)(MD)))]

Enc_(PrivU1)(MD) Dec_(PubU2)[Enc_(PrivU2)(Enc_(PrivU1)(MD))]

MD(=Hash[File])==Dec_(PubU1)[Enc_(PrivU1)(MD)]

The present invention has an effect of providing an authenticationsystem for the file to perform the authentication and the verificationin real-time without a possibility of forgery and falsification andwithout constraints of space by recording the authentication informationin the blockchain of the virtual currency.

The present invention has another effect of providing the authenticationsystem for the file with guaranteed security to perform theauthentication and the verification in real-time without the possibilityof forgery and falsification and without the constraints of space byusing the hash function and an encryption technology.

Meanwhile, the processor 120 may control a data flow among thecommunication part 110 and the other components. That is, the processor120 may control the communication part 110 and other components toperform their unique functions, by controlling the data flow among eachcomponent within the server 100.

The processor 120 may include hardware configuration of MPU (MicroProcessing Unit) or CPU (Central Processing Unit), cache memory, databus, etc. Additionally, OS and software configuration of applicationsthat achieve specific purposes may be further included.

The embodiments of the present invention as explained above can beimplemented in a form of executable program command through a variety ofcomputer means recordable to computer readable media. The computerreadable media may include solely or in combination, program commands,data files, and data structures. The program commands recorded to themedia may be components specially designed for the present invention ormay be usable to a skilled person in a field of computer software.Computer readable record media include magnetic media such as hard disk,floppy disk, and magnetic tape, optical media such as CD-ROM and DVD,magneto-optical media such as floptical disk and hardware devices suchas ROM, RAM, and flash memory specially designed to store and carry outprograms. Program commands include not only a machine language code madeby a compiler but also a high-level code that can be used by aninterpreter etc., which is executed by a computer. The aforementionedhardware devices can work as more than a software module to perform theaction of the present invention and they can do the same in the oppositecase. The hardware devices may be combined with memory such as ROM andRAM to store program commands and include a processor such as CPU or GPUcomposed to execute commands stored in the memory and also include acommunication part for sending and receiving signals with externaldevices.

As seen above, the present invention has been explained by specificmatters such as detailed components, limited embodiments, and drawings.While the invention has been shown and described with respect to thepreferred embodiments, it, however, will be understood by those skilledin the art that various changes and modification may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in thefollowing claims.

Accordingly, the thought of the present invention must not be confinedto the explained embodiments, and the following patent claims as well aseverything including variants equal or equivalent to the patent claimspertain to the category of the thought of the present invention.

1. A method for authenticating a file, comprising steps of: (a) aserver, if an authentication request for the file is acquired,generating or supporting another device to generate a specific messagedigest of the file using a hash function; (b) the server, if a firstmessage digest generated by encoding the specific message digest with aprivate key of a user is acquired, and if reference information acquiredby decoding the first message digest with a public key of the usercorresponds to the specific message digest generated at the step of (a),registering or supporting another device to register a hash value of asecond message digest, generated by encoding the specific message digestwith the private key of the user and a private key of the server, in adatabase; and (c) the server acquiring or supporting another device toacquire a transaction ID indicating a location of the hash valueregistered in the database.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein theauthentication request includes transmission of the public key of theuser.
 3. The method of claim 2, after the step of (a), furthercomprising a step of: (a1) the server transmitting or supporting anotherdevice to transmit the specific message digest to the user.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, after the step of (a1), further comprising a step of:(a2) the server acquiring or supporting another device to acquire thefirst message digest, the public key of the user, and the specificmessage digest.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein, at the step of (b),if the reference information corresponds to the specific message digest,the server registers or supports another device to register the hashvalue of the second message digest, generated by encoding the specificmessage digest in sequence with the private key of the user and theprivate key of the server, in the database.
 6. (canceled)
 7. The methodof claim 1, wherein, if the reference information corresponds to thespecific message digest, the server stores or supports another device tostore the file.
 8. (canceled)
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein theserver stores or supports another device to store the public key of theuser, the specific message digest, the first message digest, and thetransaction ID.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the server furtherstores or supports another device to store the second message digestgenerated by encoding the specific message digest in sequence with theprivate key of the user and the private key of the server, and the hashvalue of the second message digest generated by encoding the specificmessage digest in sequence with the private key of the user and theprivate key of the server.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein, if thereference information does not correspond to the specific messagedigest, the server informs or supports another device to inform that theuser is not related to the file.
 12. A method for verifying a file,comprising steps of: (a) a server, on condition that the server hasdetermined a user as related to a first file, as a reference file, inresponse to an authentication request for the first file and, as aresult, that the server has stored a first hash value of a first messagedigest, generated by encoding a message digest of the first file with aprivate key of the user and a private key of the server, in a database,and that the server has been managing its corresponding transaction ID,if a verification request for a second file is acquired, acquiring orsupporting another device to acquire the transaction ID corresponding toat least one of a public key of the user and an original message digestof the second file generated by using a hash function; (b) the serveracquiring or supporting another device to acquire an OP message,including the first hash value of the first message digest, from thedatabase by referring to the transaction ID; and (c) the serverdetermining or supporting another device to determine the second file asverified, if the first hash value in the OP message corresponds to asecond hash value of a second message digest generated by encoding theoriginal message digest with the private key of the server and theprivate key of the user.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein, at thestep of (a), if no information corresponding to the original messagedigest is found despite the verification request, the server sends orsupports another device to send a message of an unsuccessfulverification.
 14. The method of claim 12, wherein the verificationrequest includes transmission of the public key of the user.
 15. Themethod of claim 12, wherein, at the step of (a), in case of acquiringthe verification request, if the second file is acquired for theverification, the server generates or supports another device togenerate the original message digest of the second file using the hashfunction.
 16. The method of claim 12, wherein, at the step of (c), evenin case that the first hash value in the OP message corresponds to thesecond hash value of the second message digest, if the original messagedigest corresponds to a result value acquired by decoding the secondmessage digest with a public key of the server and the public key of theuser, the server determines or supports another device to determine thesecond file as verified.
 17. The method of claim 12, wherein, at thestep of (c), the server determines or supports another device todetermine the second file as verified according to whether the firsthash value in the OP message corresponds to the second hash value of thesecond message digest, generated by encoding the original message digestin sequence with the private key of the user and the private key of theserver.
 18. (canceled)
 19. (canceled)
 20. A server for authenticating afile, comprising: a communication part for acquiring or supportinganother device to acquire an authentication request for the file; and aprocessor for, (I) if the authentication request for the file isacquired, generating or supporting another device to generate a specificmessage digest of the file using a hash function, and if a first messagedigest generated by encoding the specific message digest with a privatekey of a user is acquired, and if reference information acquired bydecoding the first message digest with a public key of the usercorresponds to the generated specific message digest, registering orsupporting another device to register a hash value of a second messagedigest, generated by encoding the specific message digest with theprivate key of the user and a private key of the server, in a database,and (II) acquiring or supporting another device to acquire a transactionID indicating a location of the hash value registered in the database.21. The server of claim 20, wherein the authentication request includestransmission of the public key of the user.
 22. The server of claim 21,wherein, after the communication part acquires the authenticationrequest for the file, the processor transmits or supports another deviceto transmit the specific message digest to the user.
 23. The server ofclaim 22, wherein, after the specific message digest is transmitted, theprocessor acquires or supports another device to acquire the firstmessage digest, the public key of the user, and the specific messagedigest.
 24. The server of claim 20, wherein, in the process of (I), theprocessor, if the reference information corresponds to the specificmessage digest, registers or supports another device to register thehash value of the second message digest, generated by encoding thespecific message digest in sequence with the private key of the user andthe private key of the server, in the database.
 25. (canceled)
 26. Theserver of claim 20, wherein, the processor, if the reference informationcorresponds to the specific message digest, stores or supports anotherdevice to store the file.
 27. (canceled)
 28. The server of claim 20,wherein the processor stores or supports another device to store thepublic key of the user, the specific message digest, the first messagedigest, and the transaction ID.
 29. The server of claim 28, wherein theprocessor further stores or supports another device to store the secondmessage digest generated by encoding the specific message digest insequence with the private key of the user and the private key of theserver, and the hash value of the second message digest generated byencoding the specific message digest in sequence with the private key ofthe user and the private key of the server.
 30. The server of claim 20,wherein, the processor, if the reference information does not correspondto the specific message digest, informs or supports another device toinform that the user is not related to the file.
 31. A server forverifying a file, comprising: a communication part for acquiring averification request for a second file; and a processor for, (I) oncondition that the server has determined a user as related to a firstfile, as a reference file, in response to an authentication request forthe first file and, as a result, that the server has stored a first hashvalue of a first message digest, generated by encoding a message digestof the first file with a private key of the user and a private key ofthe server, in a database, and that the server has been managing itscorresponding transaction ID, if the verification request for the secondfile is acquired, acquiring or supporting another device to acquire thetransaction ID corresponding to at least one of a public key of the userand an original message digest of the second file generated by using ahash function; (II) acquiring or supporting another device to acquire anOP message, including the first hash value of the first message digest,from the database by referring to the transaction ID; and (III)determining or supporting another device to determine the second file asverified, if the first hash value in the OP message corresponds to asecond hash value of a second message digest generated by encoding theoriginal message digest with the private key of the server and theprivate key of the user.
 32. The server of claim 31, wherein, in theprocess of (I), the processor, if no information corresponding to theoriginal message digest is found despite the verification request, sendsor supports another device to send a message of an unsuccessfulverification.
 33. The server of claim 31, wherein the verificationrequest includes transmission of the public key of the user.
 34. Theserver of claim 31, wherein, in the process of (I), in case that theserver acquires the verification request, if the second file is acquiredfor the verification, the processor generates or supports another deviceto generate the original message digest of the second file using thehash function.
 35. The server of claim 31, wherein, in the process of(III), even in case that the first hash value in the OP messagecorresponds to the second hash value of the second message digest, ifthe original message digest corresponds to a result value acquired bydecoding the second message digest with a public key of the server andthe public key of the user, the processor determines or supports anotherdevice to determine the second file as verified.
 36. The server of claim31, wherein, in the process of (III), the processor determines orsupports another device to determine the second file as verifiedaccording to whether the first hash value in the OP message correspondsto the second hash value of the second message digest, generated byencoding the original message digest in sequence with the private key ofthe user and the private key of the server.
 37. (canceled) 38.(canceled)